


The Phone Call

by sleepismyfriend



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-12-25
Updated: 2011-12-25
Packaged: 2017-10-28 07:46:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 975
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/305538
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sleepismyfriend/pseuds/sleepismyfriend
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>While spending time with River, the Doctor receives a phone call he's determined to fix.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Phone Call

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Trialia](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Trialia/gifts).



> Prompt was Eleven/River.

She had noticed something was different about him from the get-go, his generally cheery wordy manner being replaced by something dark and brooding. One minute, he was flying around the console flipping switches and shouting about his love of pears he lacked in other incarnations, and then the inter-dimensional phone he had just repaired rang, and he stopped moving to answer.

As River heard the muffled female sounding voice on the other end, the Doctor acted as though time had come to a crashing halt.

"How bad? Are they all alright?" He rubbed the back of his neck before his hand covered his eyes, which he then rubbed too. "No—Yes, I don't know. Could be nothing or could be anything."

The Crash of the Byzantium and visiting her parents to tell them the Doctor was alive hadn't happened long ago for her, but for the Doctor, it had been several years and an almost regeneration from what she could tell. She was glad from his end he had managed to keep his current face, but was rather unsettled by the fact that after the phone call, he hung up the receiver and exited the console room.

She followed into the corridor, not giving him a chance to let the TARDIS wind her around aimlessly.

"You should probably get some rest or something." He stopped walking, knowing she was behind him and choosing not to look at her. "The TARDIS will provide whatever you need."

"What if I need is you?" She hesitated even saying the words, knowing what significance they held. It was one of the only times she knew their timelines would be in sync, and their relationship on even solid ground. For the sake of that alone, she had long given up arguing about their "marriage". "Surely, the TARDIS can't provide that."

She took another step forward to touch his shoulder. "Whatever it is, tell me what's happened."

His eyes wouldn't meet hers, shifting to one side. River took the opportunity to take the hand that wasn't on his shoulder and put it under his chin and make him look her in the eyes.

 _"You forget, love, I'm the one person you never have to hide from."_ Her heart and mind spoke the words, even when her voice did not. Her hands then held his cheeks, patiently waiting.

 _"Follow me."_ He walked past her, taking a right, then a left, and then another right through the vast corridors until they came to a circular steel door.

"I don't know this room."

"Of course you don't." The Doctor touched the steel wheel that held the door closed. "It's the second most important room on this ship, and contains everything that was anything of value to me. The TARDIS can't reveal it without me present."

The Doctor spun the wheel and pulled the door open. As River looked inside, she noted that it didn't appear to be anything other than a vast expanse of darkness with no light and no escape.

As she looked to the Doctor, she noticed a single tear had fallen down his cheek. He stared forward as though he saw something he didn't quite like.

Which was confusing, considering the darkness was supposed to contain everything and anything of value to the Doctor.

She could feel him speaking through her mind as he physically tapped both sides of his chest. _"After nine-hundred plus years, the universe is too big to remember, River. The hearts tend to get a bit crowded."_

River reached for his hand, threading their fingers together as he motioned forward. _"So, I keep things here, where the TARDIS can keep track of all of you long after we've finished our adventures."_

"Without it, I could never let anyone new in," he said.

"Sweetie, are you sure?" River wasn't quite sure what going in the room entailed, but she wasn't certain it was the right thing.

"The first humans I ever travelled with, their names were Ian and Barbara. Beautiful wonderful people. Your parents remind me a great deal of them, you know. They had a son, named Johnny." The Doctor sighed.

"And something happened to Johnny?" River was trying to fill in the clues without him telling the entire story.

"He met another companion of mine. A brave-hearted woman named Tegan. They were supposed to get married."

"Okay—"

"But, they were blown up," he said, all in one breath. "Wrong place at the wrong time. Johnny and Tegan were killed. Barbara and Ian were right behind them, and just barely missed the blast."

"Sweetie—"

"I have to save them." He looked at her, pulling away and moving towards the door, putting one foot into the darkness. "This will tell me where in time to go, what they were doing just prior to the explosion."

"Don't you think that's a bit invasive? They never signed up for you to follow them their entire lives. Who knows what kind of damage you could do to the universe by keeping tabs on your friends." River knew the Doctor never liked goodbyes or endings. He always wanted to believe that there was one last chance for someone to make it out alive, and his companions were always higher on his priorities list. "You have to sit this one out."

"No, I don't." He insisted. "Because it's not their time. They still have time to live, visits from me, spectacular things to do—"

"Yes, but time has to run a natural course. You can't always swoop in and save the day. It's not your right, it isn't any being's right. There shouldn't be gods in the universe."

"Oh, now that's just ridiculous." His sadness has turned to anger, nearly full on anger that River hadn't seen before. "You've never seen what I can really do."

And with that, he entered the darkness.


End file.
